Troubles in the Glass house
by Kaitlynxo
Summary: A shanexclaire lovestory. Claire finds out she's pregnant at the age of 19. Shane struggles to come to terms with the fact that he's going to be a father, and Claire learns that their baby is highly desired by the vampires to train from the age of one. Will everything work out okay in the end?
1. A Confession

**AUTHORS NOTE: Claire is 19, Shane is 20.**

This was not happening. It just couldn't be. But sure enough, it was true. Claire stared at the pregnancy test she held in her hand, her hands shaking. Eve was standing next to her, leaning against the sink in the bathroom.

Claire started having her suspicions of pregnancy earlier this week, when she'd abruptly woken early in the morning feeling sick. Of course, Shane had been by her side the whole week while she stayed in bed. Always taking care of her.

How was she going to tell him? It had been hard enough telling Eve that she thought she was pregnant. She wasn't ready for this. She knew it would be a hard pregnancy, if she decided to go through with it.

Eve was obviously excited about the thought of being an auntie. "So, when are you going to tell Shane? Your parents? Amelie? Ooh, this is so exciting!" She was practically bouncing.

"Hmm.. I don't know. When the time is right." Claire was starting to get more excited. She was still worried though.

They both headed downstairs. Claire mimed zipping her lips, she didn't want anyone else to know at this point.

The smell of chilli was wafting through the air. Her mouth watered, she loved Shane's chilli. She headed to the table, where a bowl of chilli and a coke were waiting for her. Michael and Shane were already sitting at the table.

It was the first time in a while that they'd all sat down at the table for a meal. And it was surprisingly fun, being together with everyone again, all her worries slipped out of her mind for that moment.

When they'd all finished dinner, Michael and Eve offered to do the dishes. It was about time, they'd been stacking up. Claire found this as the perfect moment to tell Shane.

He'd already gone to the couch, and so Claire followed. She went in and snuggle up against him, he put his arm around her. They were just watching mindless sitcoms, but she loved spending time with him. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. It seemed like the perfect moment, and yet she couldn't form the words in her mouth.

"Hey, Shane, I've got something I really need to tell you.."

"Yeah? This sounds serious." He replied.

"I…"

And suddenly there was a big crash. Shane and Claire both exchanged looks and ran to the kitchen where the sound was coming from.

Once they got there they saw it was just a few plates on the ground, Eve in tears and Michael mad. They'd definitely been in an argument. Eve suddenly stalked out of the room and pushed past Claire and Shane standing in the doorway avoiding eye contact.

Claire looked at Shane and Michael and went after her. She'd gone to her room and the door was close. She hesitantly knocked. After a few seconds Eve asked "who is it?"

"It's just me, Claire." She replied.

"'Kay, come in."

Claire slowly opened the door and saw Eve lying on her bed with a pillow over her face. "Ever since I was fourteen I've had a crush on that boy. Never imagined he would become a vampire. It's just, he's changing. Every day, I can see it." She told Claire.

"Yeah, me too." She put her arms around Eve. "But there's nothing we can do to change it. And he regrets it everyday, but there was nothing else he could've done."

"Yeah, I get that. Why am I getting so dramatic? You're the one with all the drama! Have you told Shane yet?"

"Uh, well. I was going to but then we heard a crash. We came to the kitchen" She told Eve.

"Oh. Huh. Well, you'll have to tell him soon… I mean, it's not as if you can just wait until you're about to have the baby, springing it on him then.."

That thought hadn't occurred to her.

"Yeah, well, I'm going to go to bed. I'm really tired."

"'Night, CB."

She walked down the hall and into her room. After quickly changing into her pjs she jumped into bed. She heard a soft knock at the door. "Come in!"

Shane walked in and came and sat on her bed. She sat up.

"There was something you wanted to tell me.. And I think I know what it is."

She got his hand and put it against her stomach. "I'm pregnant."

"That's what I thought. The morning sickness, tiredness, it all adds up. I'm sorry, but I just have to have a breather. Think things over. We're not ready for this"

He walked out of the room. Claire was okay with that, she knew it wouldn't have been a good thing. She was worried herself.

She drifted into a peaceful sleep, and sometime during the night, she felt soft arms wrap around her. With that, she knew everything would be alright.

**Kay, so this is my first fan fiction. Please give me reviews! I'll write another chapter if this goes well. :D**


	2. Will it be okay?

**Kay, so I decided to write another chapter because the other one got such good reviews. It's a little shorter than the last one.**

Claire woke up early the next morning feeling sick. Shane had his arms wrapped around her and she needed to get out so she could run to the bathroom. After slowly prying his arms away from her, she ran down the hallway to the toilet. She heard footsteps, but she didn't think much of it.

While she was throwing up, someone pulled her hair away from her face. She turned around, and Shane was there with a worried look on his face. "Are you okay? Stay home from classes today, just to make sure you'll be alright."

It didn't seem like a bad idea to stay home. "Okay, Shane. But I can't stay home everyday forever, I'll get so behind on my studies!"

She went to the sink and started brushing her teeth to get rid of that awful taste in her mouth. Shane silently left the bathroom and she went back to her bedroom to get some more sleep. It was barely sunrise.

She snuggled under the covers and woke to the sun streaming through her window. It was a nice, warm sun.

She got up and headed to the shower. The house sounded completely quiet, everyone must've gone out. After a long, hot shower, she got dressed and headed downstairs for some breakfast. Or maybe lunch. She checked her phone for the time. Yeah, it was time for lunch.

She headed past the lounge where she could hear the TV and went into the kitchen for some toast and coffee.

After making it, she went into the dining room and sat at the table where Michael was already sitting drinking coffee and reading the newspaper.

He folded it up and put it on the table and just looked at her while drinking his coffee. Finally, Claire decided to strike up conversation. "So, what have you got planned for today?" She asked.

"Oh, I'm not doing anything really, just practising for my gig tonight."

"Cool."

"Claire, I can only imagine how you must be feeling right now."

"I'm guessing Shane told you."

"Actually, Eve told me first." He replied, with a slight smile. "Shane told me after."

"Okay. She sighed and rolled her eyes. I'm waiting for my lecture."

"Now isn't really the time for a lecture. This is too serious. What are you going to do? Have you realised the complications behind this? Have you thought about your future?"

"Wow, you make it sound like it's the worst thing that could've happened."

"Isn't it?" That almost stung. Why couldn't he be happy for me?

"Well, if you had've told me I was going to get pregnant a few months ago, I would've been horrified. But now that I am, it's all changed. I want this baby."

"Well, if that's how you feel, then I'm happy for you."

With that sounding like the end of our conversation, Claire picked up her cup and plate and went to go wash them in the sink.

Shane was in there leaning on the counter. "I'm guessing you've talked to Michael then?" He asked her.

"Yeah."

"Claire, I'm just not ready for us to have a kid. Do we look ready? I'm only 21; you're only 19, just getting out of college. You have your whole life ahead of you. Do you really want to settle down now? I really don't think this is a good idea."

"What are you saying, Shane? That I should get an abortion? Well that's not going to happen. I wasn't ready, but now I am. I want this baby. How could you even consider getting rid of your child? If you aren't going to be happy with my decision to keep it, then it's over."

And with that, she stormed out the door.

**I will be adding more chapters! I hoped you liked it :)**


	3. Preparations

Claire started walking without thinking about where she was going. It was hot outside and the sun was glaring down on her. She heard the door open behind her and Shane sprint out.

"Claire, please listen." He said from behind her. She spun around. "You have to hear me out. I don't want you to have to go through everything. I don't think we're ready."

She sighed. "Okay. If you don't want this baby, and to get rid of it, then it's over between us." She replied.

"I just don't want-"

"'Kay, bye Shane. I'm moving back in with my parents."

It had been six months since she'd broken up with Shane. She hadn't seen him since. Of course, Eve and Michael came over to visit. Claire didn't really go out these days. She didn't want to accidentally see him.

Claire had been two months pregnant when she moved back in with her parents, and telling them hadn't been easy. Her parents had supported her through everything anyway.

Not a day had gone by that she hadn't thought about him. Here she was, sitting in her room thinking about him again. It was about 2am but Claire couldn't sleep, it was just too uncomfortable. Her parents were away at some Vampire conference.

There was a tap on her window. Then another. She got up and walked over to see what was outside.

"Claire!" A voice yelled.

Wow, that was weird. She slowly pulled open the window and peered out.

"It's Shane! Can I come up?" Oh my God. It was Shane. What could she do? It had been so long.

"'Kay." That was all she could come up with? He was probably going to run back home now. She wouldn't blame him. Oh my God. And she was the size of a house. He would be repulsed by her. He hadn't wanted the baby.

She went and sat on her bed and waited for him.

He came in through the window. "Claire." He said. "How many times can I beg you'll take me back? It's been six months. Six long months. I need you. I haven't stopped thinking about you."

She'd felt exactly the same way.

"I don't know. I mean, you didn't want a baby, yet here one is." She pointed to her stomach.

"I'm ready for all this now. How can I explain? Move back to the Glass house. We'll be a family."

It was all she could ever want and more.

By now he was sitting next to her on the bed. She felt tears come to her eyes.

"Shane, do you realise how long I've spent sitting in my room thinking about you? I can't really go anywhere. I've missed you so much."

She leaned into him and he put his arms around her.

"Hey, Shane? Do you remember how you said you were ready to be a family."

"Yeah."

"My water just broke."

"Oh my God. Do we need to go to the hospital?" He asked.

"Yes. Soon."

"Okay, I've got Eve's car."

"We should go then."

He got up and dragged her up with him. She awkwardly waddled to the front door.

"You can't run can you?"

"Probably not."

He swung his arms around the back of her legs and picked her up then sprinted to the car and put her in the passenger seat. He then got in and drove off to the hospital.

This was it, she thought. All these months had been in preparation for what was coming.


	4. Authors Note

Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated for ages. I went for a holiday to Australia and have had some important exams coming up so I'm busy studying for those.

Anyway, this chapter Claire will be having her baby. I really want it to be realistic and be good, but I don't really have much of a clue about how to do that. I've never had a baby myself haha. I probably won't be able to update in the near future as my exams are in 1 and a half weeks and then I have other exams after that, but maybe November I will? If I get inspiration suddenly then I will but otherwise I have other important stuff to focus on. Don't worry though! At some point you will get the next chapter and the story will go on! Probably when I have my summer holidays (I'm in the southern hemisphere) so like December/January.

Wow I just realised I've written heaps. Ah well, just thought I'd explain things.


	5. A baby is born

Seven hours later and Claire was still lying in the hospital bed in labour. Shane had rushed her into the hospital earlier, where she had been checked over by the doctor and sent to a room to rest. Eve and Shane were sitting in the room with her; no one had been able to get hold of Michael.

She was resting, not quite sleeping but she had her eyes closed while she had the chance. She didn't know when the next contraction would come along. Shane was holding her hand on one side, while Eve was on the other. Even if she hadn't been in contact with Shane much over the past six months, she'd still seen Eve.

"You sure picked the right time to go see Claire! She would have been all by herself going into labour if you hadn't had got there at the time you did. Good timing, but what made you change your mind?" Eve whispered across to Shane.

"I can't believe I left Claire alone for so long. I feel so guilty. From now on I'm going to be the best boyfriend in the world. To see what she's been going through, it hurts to think about it. I love her so much." He whispered, mostly to himself, as he pushed her hair away from her damp forehead and kissed it. He could see she was about to have another contraction.

Claire whimpered out in pain. She opened her eyes and started breathing heavily and fast. She grabbed Shane's shirt and pulled him towards her.

"DO SOMETHING SHANE! JUST GET ME SOME DRUGS ALREADY!" She screamed at him. At this point, all she could think about what how he did this to her, and he was going to get her the drugs.

He had a worried look on his face but obediently got up and walked off in the direction of a doctor.

"Come on, CB, you can do this" Eve said encouragingly. "We've been here for seven hours; surely the baby must be coming soon. I'll take your mind off it. Do you know if you're having a girl or a boy?"

"Not sure" Claire grunted. "I decided not to find out, but I want a girl." She told Eve between breaths.

Shane walked in with a doctor just as Claire told Eve about wanting a girl.

"No way!" He told Claire. "We're so having a boy, I can just tell."

Claire rolled her eyes and went back to focusing on breathing as Shane came over and took her hand. They both looked expectantly at the cheery looking female doctor.

"Alright Claire, lets see how far along you are" She said as she checked. "You're seven centimetres dilated. It shouldn't be too long now. Have you thought about names?"

Claire looked at Shane. "We haven't talked about them but I have a few in mind."

"Oh yeah?" Shane said. "And what would those be?"

"I want the baby to be called Taylor if it's a girl and Daniel if it's a boy." She told him as the doctor smiled at them and then walked out.

"Both those names sound good to me. Now we just have to wait and see if it's a boy or a girl. Now get some rest, it's been a tough seven hours."

She wondered how she would be able to get some rest with the pain from the baby kicking. She couldn't work out why the baby wouldn't just hurry up and get out of her.

Eve smiled at her. "I'm just going to call Michael again and see where he is." She quickly said before leaving the room.

**11 hours later**

Claire was in agonising pain and no amount of drugs was taking that away. Shane was standing by her and not complaining when Claire squeezed his hand too tightly or yelled at him for no reason. Michael had arrived some time before but the doctor had said that everyone had to leave the room except Shane and so Eve and Michael was in the waiting room. Claire's parents had been contacted but were unable to make it in time and wouldn't be able to see the baby until it was at least a few days old.

Shane whispered some encouraging words but Claire heard nothing of it as she was just focusing on not exploding from the pain. At the moment she hated Shane for doing this to her.

Her mood didn't rise until the doctor came in and said the magic words. "Let's get you to the delivery room; it's time to have this baby!"

She smiled at Shane and said "are you ready?" He nodded and said "Can I quickly go tell Michael and Eve?" The doctor told him to be quick.

The bed was being wheeled to the delivery room and Claire was firmly holding Shane's hand. When they arrived the doctor put rubber gloves on her hands and then told Claire to push.

**Some time later**

Claire lay on her bed in the hospital room holding her baby girl in her arms, the sun streaming in onto her and the baby. She'd never seen anything so beautiful. Baby Taylor was the perfect mix of Shane and her. Eve and Michael had both come in to see the baby and have a hold of her. Michael had shook Shane's hand and Eve had exclaimed to Michael that she wanted one.

Shane was out getting extra clothes and food for Claire, giving her time to get to know her perfect little girl. Shane had looked truly proud when he had first caught sight of his baby and they were practically inseparable since. Who knew Shane would be the proud father that he was?

Claire fell asleep with Taylor in her arms and awoke a few hours later to seen Shane sitting next to her on one of the plastic seats holding Taylor.

"You're awake" He told her with a smile on his face.

"Yeah" She smiled back. "Isn't she perfect?"

"She's as perfect as her mother. Claire, I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you for the past six months. I promise I'll make it up to you."

Eve and Michael walked in and Eve scooped Taylor up and gave her a big kiss. "Hey Taylor! It's Aunt Eve!"

The doctor then walked in and checked her clipboard. "We were a bit worried about Taylor because she was 3 weeks premature but she's fine and healthy. You'll be free to leave tomorrow. I just need you to tell me if her surname will be Danvers or Collins?"

"Definitely Collins." Claire told the doctor. Shane smiled proudly.

"Sure. Well that's all I need. Have a good day. Bye little Taylor Collins" The doctor said as she smiled.

"Eve can I have Taylor back? I think she needs some sleep, and so do I." Claire asked Eve.

Eve begrudgingly gave Taylor back and she and Michael left the room. Shane gave both Claire and Taylor a kiss before leaving with them. Claire put the baby in her little cot and tucked her up snugly before falling asleep herself.

When she woke up Taylor was gone.


	6. Where's the baby?

Claire threw off her thick hospital blankets and jumped off her bed, feeling slightly dizzy from standing up so fast. She stormed out to the waiting room, catching Shane walking in her direction in the corridor. He acknowledged the panicked look on her face and quickly stopped beside her. "Hey Claire, what are you doing up? Where's Taylor?" He asked her, looking into her eyes.

"She's gone, I just woke up and she wasn't in her cot next to my bed. Shane, I'm worried." She replied.

"Don't worry about it; the doctors probably just put her in the baby room along with all the other babies. Let's go find her." He said, putting his arm around her and leading her to the baby room. It was then that she realized she must look a mess, in her pyjamas with her hair un-brushed. Oh well, she decided, I've just had a baby and I'm allowed to look a mess.

They arrived at the baby room and of course, Taylor wasn't there. This was just her luck. She couldn't just have a baby and everything would be happy, something always had to go wrong. Quickly blinking away tears, she turned towards Shane and leaned into him.

"Come on." He said leading her back to her hospital room. "You need to rest; you had a baby only yesterday. This is way too much stress. You sleep, I'll find Taylor. How far could she have gone? She's a one day old baby." His attempt at a joke made her feel a little bit better. She smiled at him.

"Okay. But keep me updated. And bring her back to me as soon as you locate where she is." She said as she headed to her room. She pushed the door open and sat on her bed, to find a figure come out from behind the curtain. Oliver.

"Hello, Claire."

"Oliver! You gave me a fright. What are you doing here?" She said with false enthusiasm. His presence made her slightly nervous.

"You might have noticed your baby's missing. I have information that might be valuable."

"She's not in danger is she?"

"It depends what you would call danger." He said with a mischievous look on his face.

"Look Oliver, I'm tired and I don't have time for games. Tell me where she is, right now."

"Very well, don't get your panties in a twist. Amelie's got her."

Amelie has her? What would Amelie want with my baby? Claire thought. The thought of Taylor surrounded by vampires made her feel uneasy however.

"Okay thanks for telling me, Oliver. You can go now." She told him. With that, he was gone. Claire let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

All she had to do was find Shane and get out of here. Getting out would be the tricky part. Claire shoved on some clothes from the bag Shane had brought. Ugh, he'd picked the worst clothes out of her closet. That doesn't matter right now, she thought. As she strolled through the corridors of the hospital searching for Shane, she grew anxious of what Amelie would want with Taylor. Shane was nowhere to be found and so Claire walked outside with her head turned away from the receptionist so that she wasn't noticed and managed to make it outside successfully.

The autumn weather was cool and the sky looked like it was threatening to rain. She looked around for Shane but he didn't seem likely to be around so she decided she'd have to walk herself. She was extremely tired and wasn't sure if she was going to be able to hold herself up for much longer but this was extremely important to her. Taylor was the most important person in her life at the moment and no one was going to get in the way of that.

Claire had already decided why Amelie wanted Taylor. She thought back to when Claire was just three months pregnant and had gone to tell Amelie about the pregnancy.

_Claire walked into one of Amelie's many offices and was greeted by a guard. After her identity was confirmed the guard moved to reveal Amelie. She was sitting composed and cool. _

"_What is it that you wanted to tell me? I cannot just drop everything for you like I have been." She told her._

"_I just thought you should know that I'm pregnant. I won't be able to do as much as I have been and I don't want to be around all the chemicals in Myrnin's lab."_

"_I'm very… displeased with this news." Claire thought she seemed more disgusted. "I'll never understand humans need for a family but I guess I saw this coming, you have been with Shane for a number of years now. I was a bride by the time I was 16. But don't think I'm going to let you get behind on your studies. You will do what you can, where you can. Even if this means reading books from home." Claire found it puzzling that Amelie wasn't mad with this news._

""_Okay, that's fine with me." Claire replied._

"_I do not care whether it is fine with you. Just be prepared. This baby will be very valuable to us. We can train her from a young age to do what we've been teaching you."_

_This news made Claire uneasy but she knew she would be able to stop it when the time came._

"_You may leave now, Claire."_

_Claire came back from her daydreaming and walked out._

It seemed so long ago now but it was only about 5 months. Amelie had stayed true to her word and had taken Taylor. She was almost at Founders Square now. Any other human walking into Founders Square wouldn't be allowed but she was known in the vampire community now, as was all of the Glass House members. She quickly remembered she wasn't wearing her founders pin.

She arrived at Amelie's office and knocked on the door. A guard opened it and she peered around to see 5 vampires crowded around a pink bassinet.


	7. There she is!

**A/N: So to make up for not updating for a while I've been updating heaps! Hope you enjoy it. Please review **** this chapter is a bit short, but I'll update really soon!**

Claire stormed in and inspected the bassinet. Sure enough, that was Taylor in it. She scooped Taylor up into her arms and glared at the vampires, as she stood near the door getting ready to bolt. Among the vampires was Michael. She gave him a questioning look. She stared at Amelie, standing at the head of the room.

"What are you doing with my baby?" She directed the question at everyone, but Amelie responded.

"I told you she would be needed once she was born. Well, here she is."

"She's only a day old! You can't just take her from the hospital! What if she gets sick because she's been exposed to germs? She wouldn't be so wanted then." Claire said, holding Taylor closer to her.

"She is a very valuable child to us. Both you and Shane have proven to be valuable to Morganville, time and time again. With your intelligence and Shane's strength she may end up being the most valuable human in Morganville, over time. If we start teaching her skills from now she will grow into a very important person."

"I won't allow it." Claire said, fiercely.

"It is not a matter of whether you allow it or not, it's going to happen."

Claire refused to listen to this. It was her baby. She decided she was not going to get her way, but that didn't matter. She could at least negotiate.

"Fine, but not until she's older. At least school age."

"This is not up for negotiating."

"I say it is." Claire said, sternly.

"Are you questioning me?" Amelie asked immediately interested.

"No, I'm telling you. You're not taking my baby away from me." Claire had never felt more passionate about anything. It was one thing for Claire to have to do all the work for Amelie and Myrnin but her baby? No way.

"You may leave." Was all Amelie said.

Claire didn't need anymore encouragement. She was gone. Feeling a lot more light-headed and tired than before, she began a wobbly descend from Amelie's office. Michael caught up with her while she was walking down the hallway.

"You look like crap." Michael said with a grin.

"Oh, thanks Michael." She replied, pushing him away with her free hand. He pretended to stumble.

His face turned serious. "What are you doing out of the hospital?"

"What do you think?" She asked, sarcastically. "Taylor was missing, and so Shane and I were on a search for her. Speaking of Shane, where is he?"

"I text him while we were in there, and he's outside waiting for you two."

"Good. I'm going to need him to drive me back to the hospital. What were you doing in there? You were part of the kidnapping squad."

He suddenly looked really uncomfortable. "I had to be there, vampire orders."

They finished the conversation just as they reached the door of the building. She remembered Michael couldn't go outside, but that was okay because she could see Shane leaning against the car waiting for Claire. She left Michael and walked swiftly towards Shane who hugged her and Taylor. She strapped Taylor into the car seat in the back. She then turned towards Shane and leaned into him for support.

"They want to use her for learning skills for Morganville. I don't want her to Shane, I just don't." Tears suddenly sprung to her eyes. She was so emotional today. Shane wiped the tears away.

"I don't want that either, but don't worry. We won't let that happen."

"I'm sorry for being so emotional. I'm so tired; I can't believe I'm still standing. I had to sneak out of the hospital to get here."

"You shouldn't even be out of bed. Come on; let's get you back to the hospital so you can rest."

That didn't sound like a bad idea to her. She got in the car and they headed to the hospital, happy that Taylor was safe.


	8. A happy family

Claire and Shane arrived at the hospital and walked in through the sliding doors. Shane was holding Taylor in one arm, carefully supporting her neck while his other arm was firmly around Claire, more or less holding her up. The plan was to sneak back in, no one noticing them. However, Claire guessed they didn't look as inconspicuous and when it had just been her. They walked past the receptionist carefully avoiding her eyes.

"Miss Danvers!" She yelled, just loud enough for her to hear. She regretfully and purposely slowly turned around. "We've been looking for you everywhere, Miss Danvers. Where have you been?"

Claire walked over to the desk and quietly told her what had happened. At the end of the story she called the nurses who had been looking for Claire and told Claire's doctor to come and have a look at Taylor. She let Claire and Shane go back to the hospital room, and once Claire was safely settled back on her bed with Taylor in Shane's arms, she resisted the urge to lie back and fall asleep but she knew she had to stay awake for the doctor's visit.

The friendly looking doctor knocked before coming in and said hello to both Shane and Claire.

"Okay, I just want to take a look at Taylor; she's had a big day!" Shane handed Taylor to the doctor and hovered protectively until she was done checking Taylor.

"Well, she seems fine, but she's had a big day and has been out of your hands for far too long. I think you should stay another night. I told you that you would be able to leave today but tomorrow will definitely be the day!" She smiled at both Claire and Shane before handing Taylor over to Claire and then leaving.

Shane sat on the chair next to the bed and took Claire's hand. "Looks like it'll be in for another night."

"Yeah, although I don't even feel like I'm ready to go home."

"So when you say 'home' do you mean the Glass House or your parents' house?"

"I want to say the Glass House." She said with a smile. "But all of Taylor's stuff is at my parents' house and her nursery is all set up. She needs her own room, where would that be in the Glass House?"

"Well." He said. "You could move in to my room and she could have your room, and moving Taylor's stuff into your room shouldn't be too hard."

"Okay then. I'll come home to the Glass House tomorrow. But I don't think Michael and Eve are going to be too happy about a screaming baby waking them up at night." She laughed.

"I don't think I'm going to be happy about waking up from a screaming baby in the middle of the night." He joked.

"Well you better get used to it, because you'll be the one getting up for her!" She joked back.

"I vote we get Michael to do it, considering he's already up at night anyway."

"Sounds like a plan to me." She laughed, then immediately yawned.

"You're tired, go to sleep."

"I don't want to leave you." She told Shane.

"I'll be right here when you wake up."

She handed Shane Taylor and fell quickly into a deep, dreamless sleep.

A loud noise startled Claire out of her sleep. A scream. A baby yelling. The noise made her heart hurt and she abruptly opened her eyes to see Shane standing by the cot trying to calm down a very red faced baby.

"Sorry you woke up. I think she wants her mommy."

Bleary eyed but refreshed from her sleep, Claire smiled and held out her arms for her precious baby. Shane quickly gave her Taylor, needing no encouragement. It was obvious Shane hadn't known how to handle a crying baby. As soon as Taylor was in Claire's arms she stopped screaming and looked expectantly up at Claire. She was so tiny. Claire looked up at Shane smugly. He looked embarrassed.

She fed Taylor and got up to change her diaper. After doing so she gave Taylor a kiss and placed her carefully into her cot, wrapping her tight up in her yellow blanket.

She walked over to Shane and wrapped her arms around him, he put him arms around her in response.

"What's this for?" He asked.

"I don't know, just because I love you." She replied.

"I love you too."

She pulled away and looked outside. "Wow, it's dark. You should go home! I can't believe you actually waited for me to wake up. That's so sweet. How are you going to get home now? You won't be able to go outside now. You'll most definitely have to stay here."

He smiled. "Okay then."

Claire wasn't ready to go back to sleep yet so they stayed up and talked for hours. Later they fall asleep on Claire's small hospital bed, intertwined with each other.


	9. Regrets

**Wow. I haven't updated fanfiction for a really, really long time. I apologise everyone! To be honest with everyone I feel like the series went a tad downhill, with book 8 being the last one I loved. This made me uninspired to write fanfiction and so I kind of just stopped. Another thing that made me uninspired was the fact that there are so many stories just like this one now! However, I thought the last MV book was pretty good! This has been my most successful story so I'll update this one for now, let me know if you want my other one, New Decisions, updated**

A pair of chubby cheeks blows out a candle on a sagging overly-pink cake. Taylor gasps out in joy as she sees the flame evaporate and looks up at Claire expectantly. Claire is overwhelmed with the feeling of her baby daughter turning one. Shane swoops Taylor up and engulfs her with a cuddle much to Taylor's delight. Eve and Michael relax in each other's arms, her diamond ring engagement and weddings rings glinting in the sunlight flooding in through the window.

Taylor's birthday is a small affair; just Eve, Michael, Shane and Claire celebrating the end to Shane and Claire's struggles in their first year of parenting. Having been set back down, Taylor has now happily pulled herself up so that she is standing but holding onto the couch. Tentatively, she takes a step towards Claire.

"Come on Taylor, come to mommy!" Claire coos, realising how close she is to being able to walk confidently. She's never taken more than 5 steps before. Taylor stumbles into Claire's outstretched arms with a big smile on her face as Claire hands her a small piece of cake. Taylor smashes her fist up to her face and gets the cake everywhere except her mouth.

Claire hands Taylor to Shane.

"Could you clean her up, please? I'll clean all this stuff up," she tells him. Shane runs upstairs to wash Taylor's face.

_Wow, he's come so far in the last year. Who knew parenting would agree so well with him?_ Claire thinks as she glides into the kitchen to put the dishes into the sink. She couldn't see where Eve and Michael had gone, but she could guess. Ever since they got married they were inseparable and couldn't keep their hands off each other. She suppressed a sigh. Things weren't exactly the same with her and Shane, and she hadn't exactly had a great first year of motherhood, she thought as she starts scrubbing the dishes.

_I can't believe it's been six months since I gave birth to Taylor. I love her, but she was a mistake. How could I possibly have been so stupid and get pregnant? I feel so stupid and I feel like it's my entire fault. I only had one thing to do and that was to take my pill every day and I guess I forgot one day. Taylor was the result. Taylor is beautiful and I love her to pieces but all I feel like I am is a single mother. That's all I am now. I can't study now because I have to look after Taylor and Shane has to go to work. Bringing Taylor into this world was such a stupid thing for me to do. She's always going to have a risky life; bringing her into Morganville. Shane is a natural father, he's so good with her and knows her so well, but I often get frustrated with her. I never pictured myself with kids—at all. It wasn't something that ever occurred to me. My relationship with Shane is not the same. We can't focus on each other anymore, because there's one more person in our family. I'm deeply unsatisfied with my life. If I could go back, things wouldn't have gone this way._

"Hey, Claire, you've been scrubbing that plate for about five minutes straight," Shane says to her, bringing her out of her stupor. She didn't realise she had been daydreaming. She preferred not to think about those days, they were her darkest. Sometimes she still had her regretful thoughts but they were fleeting and she remembered that yes, she had made a stupid mistake but she loved Taylor and she couldn't change anything now.

"Sorry, I just can't believe it's been a whole year." She turns around and sags against him as he puts his arms around her.

"I agree. I can't believe I've been a father for a year," he replies.

"And a fine father you are."

"It's not going to get any easier now. She's turned one, in the vamps minds, she's not a baby anymore and they're going to force us to hand her over so that they can use her. We have to do something," Shane tells her with a fierceness in his eyes.

The thought hadn't occurred to her. The vamps were going to take her. She was valuable to them.

"What can we do?" She asks, knowing he's already constructed a plan and was waiting until we were alone.

"We need to run. We need to get out of Morganville and keep Taylor safe. Morganville was never safe for any of us, and it's not just us anymore. We're a family, whether you want to be or not." Claire understood exactly what he was saying, and she recognised what he was hinting at.

When Taylor had been just a few weeks old, Shane had still been in his apologetic phase. He was bending over backwards trying to make sure Claire was happy. That had included proposing to Claire. Claire was still very upset that she was a mother and the proposal had not been welcome. She didn't want to be 20, married and with a baby. They were too young for any of it. Michael and Eve got married but Claire still didn't want to get married herself.

Claire knew she was being selfish for not wanting to marry Shane. Claire's parents often questioned Shane about when he was going to marry Claire and why he hadn't already, and Shane had never told them that it was actually her that was saying no.

"And how do you suppose we run? How would we get out of Morganville? Even if we did they'd find us," Claire said, shooting down his idea.

"Look, I've been planning this for a while. We could go see Frank, as he controls the barriers around Morganville. He can let us through. We can run and run and run. We don't even have to be confined by the U.S. border. We could go somewhere really sunny so that they'd never want to find us. If we're going to do this though, we need to do it soon, as in tomorrow. We'll take Taylor, and we'll run away from Morganville."

**There we go guys, hope you enjoy it, tell me if you want more because I don't want to write anymore if no one's going to read it haha.**


	10. The end of an era

**A/N: Can I just say that the Morganville fanfiction page has EXPLODED since I was on here in 2010. I got 5000 extra views on my story when I updated last week than I had overall. Wow, and there are so many stories now! When I used to come on here there'd be a few good stories but not too many, but now there's so many good stories! So good to see more people getting into Morganville Vampires!**

"Shane, we can't just leave Morganville. You may be thinking of Taylor and I, but you're not thinking of Michael and Eve or my parents."

"It's the only way we can do this. If we want to keep Taylor safe then this is what we have to do."

As much as she hated to admit it, Shane was right. When Claire had become a mother she'd had to give up thinking of just herself, because she had someone so dependent on her. It would be hard. She wasn't really sure how she would leave her parents behind, and she _knew_ she wouldn't be able to leave Michael and Eve behind. They were Taylor's Godparents.

"Let's do this then." Claire whispered, in a barely audible voice. She herself was surprised she was doing this. She was leaving Morganville. Her stomach felt empty but full at the same time. She was nervous, too nervous to even talk properly. The only thing that would get her through this would be the fact that it would keep her daughter safe, and that was her sole priority.

Shane smiled in a yes-I-knew-I'd-win way and went to the fridge. He pulled out two cans of coke and threw one at Claire for her to catch, which she almost didn't. Claire looked quizzically at the icy red can in her hand and looked back up at Shane. _Is this supposed to mean something?_ She wondered.

"No the coke has nothing do with our plan, I just thought we could do with a drink," he said, reading her mind. "It's not as if we can do anything until Taylor's up from her nap," he said in that knowing way of his.

Claire went into Myrnin's lab the next day trying to act nonchalant and like she owned the place. It was a wasted effort; Myrnin was nowhere to be seen. She ushered in Shane and together they went to see Frank.

Claire got a call on her cell phone, and she answered and put it on speaker, knowing it was Frank.

"What do you two kids want?" He asked, bored and resigned.

"We need your help, Dad. We really need your help." Shane replied. "We need to leave Morganville."

There was a slight gasp of breath, so slight that it might not have been there at all. Surely Frank didn't breathe. "Son, I've been waiting for this day. I knew it would come sooner or later."

Shane visibly relaxed. Claire hadn't realised he'd been tense beforehand, but she could see it now.

"So let me guess," Frank continued. "You need me to let the barriers down so that you can escape. I can do that. Of course, I'll be punished for it, but it'll be worth it. There will be no one around at 10am tomorrow. I'll call you telling you the portals have been let down and you'll have five minutes to get out. I can't guarantee anymore, I'm sorry."

"That's perfect, Dad. Thanks for that."

"I figured it's the least I could do. Just make sure you get out safe. Don't harm my granddaughter."

"Your granddaughter is the reason we're doing this, Dad."

"I'm sorry Eve, we just have to go. We don't have a choice." Claire mumbled to Eve. Eve had grabbed onto Claire and wasn't letting go. Tears were streaking down both their faces. Shane and Claire leaving meant there was a good chance that they were never going to see each other again.

Eve, Michael, Shane and Claire had all been through so much together. They had grown with each other. If Claire hadn't come to Morganville for college then everything would be different. She wouldn't have found the love of her life, she wouldn't have met her best friends Eve and Michael and she wouldn't have Taylor. Her heart constricted at the thought of not having any of these people in her life. She had to sacrifice Michael and Eve for the sake of her family.

"I love you so much, Eve. I'll never forget you. If there's a way we can see each other then we will." Claire tried to gather herself together and stop crying but Eve was helping, she was openly sobbing. Both girls were standing on the front porch. The car was packed and ready to go. Claire didn't know where Michael and Shane were. They had packed lightly so that it wasn't too suspicious. Suddenly Shane was pulling Claire to him. They needed to leave. Everyone had said their goodbyes.

Claire picked a wandering Taylor up and strapped her into a car seat in the back. They all gave each other one last hug and reluctantly Claire and Shane got into the car.

As Shane drove away, unreleased tears plunged down Claire's face. Shane took her hand.

"It's for the best. We'll see that, eventually," Shane said in a soft tone.

Claire knew that deep down, but it just seemed like everything was falling apart. Leaving Morganville, the town she'd come to call her home, and especially leaving Michael and Eve was the hardest thing Claire had done.

It was a gloomy day, a rarity in Morganville, adding to the atmosphere. As Shane and Claire approached the barrier using back streets to be discreet, it started to rain. Just small beads of water hitting the glass windscreen.

It was the end of an era.


End file.
